SA handwriting accompanies F. almost his entire life – in the truest sense of the word. As early as elementary school, the class teacher (still friendly, but determined) pointed out the appearance of his letters. Copying from F. in class tests was always difficult for others. When F. writes numbers, they are easier to read than his letters. In view of their meager knowledge of math, this fact only benefited classmates willing to copy to a very limited extent.
After school, the topic should not let go of him. Forms in civilian service or in student jobs – “illegible”, the bosses sighed. After all, at the university there were sometimes more or less professional e-exams. In general, digitization is a blessing for F. and for his fellow human beings. Because F. had and has no problem at all with his handwriting. Rewriting entire notebooks when there were notes for the management of the notebook was unpleasant, but manageable. Fortunately, writing-related deductions in class tests only occurred occasionally. All in all, not enough suffering to work on the often scolded “pig claw”.
In any case, handwriting doesn’t have it easy these days, where smartphones, tablets and laptops are ubiquitous and everything should ideally be digital somehow. Understandably, students may not be overly receptive to well-intentioned hints about the virtues of handwriting. Own style, personal expression, motor training – who wants to hear that? At some point, however, you recognize the good sides, perhaps as a letter writer, songwriter, diary friend or quite simply: if you forgot to charge your electronic device. Whether others can read your own doodles well is another matter.
In the Nine to Five column, different authors write about curiosities from everyday life in the office and university.
